New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 Now the Philistines attacked Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them. Many were slaughtered on the slopes of Mount Gilboa.
1
The Philistines made war on Israel. The men of Israel were in full retreat from the Philistines, falling left and right, wounded on Mount Gilboa.
2 The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed three of his sons—Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malkishua.
2
The Philistines caught up with Saul and his sons. They killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua, Saul's sons.
3 The fighting grew very fierce around Saul, and the Philistine archers caught up with him and wounded him severely.
3
The battle was hot and heavy around Saul. The archers got his range and wounded him badly.
4 Saul groaned to his armor bearer, “Take your sword and kill me before these pagan Philistines come to run me through and taunt and torture me.” But his armor bearer was afraid and would not do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
4
Saul said to his weapon bearer, "Draw your sword and put me out of my misery, lest these pagan pigs come and make a game out of killing me."
5 When his armor bearer realized that Saul was dead, he fell on his own sword and died beside the king.
5
When the weapon bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him.
6 So Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and his troops all died together that same day.
6
So Saul, his three sons, and his weapon bearer - the men closest to him - died together that day.
7 When the Israelites on the other side of the Jezreel Valley and beyond the Jordan saw that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their towns and fled. So the Philistines moved in and occupied their towns.
7
When the Israelites in the valley opposite and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that their army was in full retreat and that Saul and his sons were dead, they left their cities and ran for their lives. The Philistines moved in and occupied the sites.
8 The next day, when the Philistines went out to strip the dead, they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons on Mount Gilboa.
8
The next day, when the Philistines came to rob the dead, they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa.
9 So they cut off Saul’s head and stripped off his armor. Then they proclaimed the good news of Saul’s death in their pagan temple and to the people throughout the land of Philistia.
9
They cut off Saul's head and stripped off his armor. Then they spread the good news all through Philistine country in the shrines of their idols and among the people.
10 They placed his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths, and they fastened his body to the wall of the city of Beth-shan.
10
They displayed his armor in the shrine of the Ashtoreth. They nailed his corpse to the wall at Beth Shan.
11 But when the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
11
The people of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul.
12 all their mighty warriors traveled through the night to Beth-shan and took the bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall. They brought them to Jabesh, where they burned the bodies.
12
Their valiant men sprang into action. They traveled all night, took the corpses of Saul and his three sons from the wall at Beth Shan, and carried them back to Jabesh and burned off the flesh.
13 Then they took their bones and buried them beneath the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.
13
They then buried the bones under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted in mourning for seven days.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.